OctoPlus announces 2012 first half-year results

26 juli 2012
OctoPlus N.V. ("OctoPlus" or the "Company") (Euronext: OCTO), the specialty
pharmaceutical company, announces today its results for the six-month period
ended June 30, 2012.
Highlights first half-year 2012
1. Significant growth in contract formulation and manufacturing services
* In the first six months of 2012, we have signed service contracts with 5 new
clients and 3 new projects with existing clients.
* As a result of the increase in the number of customers we serve and the
higher revenue per customer, fee-for-service revenues increased by 29% to â‚¬
3.5 million during the first half year of 2012 compared to â‚¬ 2.7 million
during the first half year of 2011
2. Initial phase in development in specialty generics successfully completed
We have completed the initial development work and created a pilot formulation
of the specialty generics project that was announced in March. As a next phase
this formulation will be tested in preclinical studies.
3. Drug delivery for difficult-to-reach areas progressing
* Our eye care project with ESBATech, a Novartis company, has progressed well.
We have produced preclinical material which ESBATech is currently testing in
preclinical studies.
* As the result of the planned reduced involvement of OctoPlus during
preclinical phase, the proprietary development revenues decreased to â‚¬ 0.2
million (2011: â‚¬ 1.1 million).
* After the results of these studies are available, ESBATech will decide how
they want to move forward with this project. Until such time, revenues from
this project will be limited.
4. Locteron for sale
* We worked on the preparation of the manufacturing process for the phase III
clinical trials, which resulted in development revenues of â‚¬ 391k. Pursuant
to the Product Development and Supply Agreement and manufacturing with
Biolex, OctoPlus was also eligible for manufacturing cancellation fees of â‚¬
752k. Total Locteron revenues amounted to â‚¬ 1.2 million compared to â‚¬ 0.1
million in the same period last year.
* On July 3, 2012, Biolex filed a voluntary petition for liquidation under
Chapter 7 in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of North
Carolina. A trustee has been appointed who we expect will sell the company's
assets. The proceeds of this potential transaction will be used to satisfy
liabilities, which may include debts to creditors and investors. This could
result in a buyer moving forward with Locteron in the future.
* OctoPlus owns the rights and all technological expertise to manufacture
Locteron and we still anticipate playing an active role in the further
development and commercialization of Locteron.
5. Financial results boosted by higher revenues and impacted by impairment and
provision
* Total revenues increased by 22% to â‚¬ 4.8 million (2011: â‚¬ 4.0 million)
driven by higher revenues from Fee-for-service and Locteron.
* Total costs (including interest and excluding impairment losses on Biolex)
increased by 9% to â‚¬ 7.4 million (2011: â‚¬ 6.8 million).
* Wages and salaries increased to â‚¬ 3.9 million (2011: â‚¬ 3.4 million). This
increase is driven by higher temporary headcount. We increased our temporary
headcount as a result of more work in the fee-for-service area.
* We incurred impairment losses on Biolex related to shares (â‚¬ 1.3 million)
and the provision of Biolex receivables (â‚¬ 1.9 million).
* Net loss increased by 100% to â‚¬ 5.8 million (2011: net loss of â‚¬ 2.9
million). Excluding the Biolex impairments the net loss was reduced by 10%.
* Cash outflow of â‚¬ 0.1 million (2011: cash outflow â‚¬ 1.5 million) resulted in
a cash position of â‚¬ 1.5 million at 30 June 2012 (â‚¬ 1.2 million last year).
* A â‚¬ 2.0 million credit line facility is in place with ABN Amro Bank, of
which â‚¬ 0.8 million was available per 30 June 2012.
Outlook 2012
We will continue our focus on acquiring new service contracts and expanding
existing contracts, aiming for our target to increase our annual revenues by
20% compared to last year.
Jan Egberts, M.D., CEO of OctoPlus comments: "Our revenues for the first six
months of the year have been encouraging, and our efforts in organizational
improvement are making a positive impact on our efficiency. We continue to focus
on building critical mass by winning additional business and growing our fee-
for-service business well above market growth rates.
The news about the voluntary petition for liquidation under Chapter 7 of our
partner Biolex was disappointing but may open up new ways to get Locteron to the
market. It was necessary for us to impair the Biolex shares and receivables. Our
outlook for the remainder of the year is to continue to grow our revenue by 20%
on an annual basis and we continue to focus on creating a cash balanced business
in the medium term."
Conference call and webcast presentation
OctoPlus will hold a conference call and webcast presentation today at 10:00 AM
CET. This event can also be followed live via OctoPlus' website www.octoplus.nl.
If you would like to participate in the conference call, please dial in on
telephone number +31 (0) 45 631 6902. After the presentation, Jan Egberts, CEO
of OctoPlus, and Susan Swarte, CFO, will be available to answer questions. After
the event, the webcast will be available for replay on the Company's website.
Contact
For further information, please contact Investor Relations: telephone number
+31 (71) 524 1071 or send an e-mail to Investor Relations at IR@octoplus.nl.
About OctoPlus
OctoPlus is a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the development and
manufacture of improved injectable pharmaceuticals based on our proprietary drug
delivery technologies that exhibit fewer side effects, improved patient
convenience and a better efficacy/safety balance than existing therapies.
OctoPlus also focuses on the development of long-acting, controlled release
versions of known protein therapeutics, peptides and small molecules, including
specialty generics.
The clinically most advanced product incorporating our technology is LocteronÂ®,
a controlled release formulation of interferon alpha for the treatment of
chronic hepatitis C, which successfully completed Phase IIb clinical studies
with superior clinical data versus current treatment.
In addition, OctoPlus is a leading European provider of advanced drug
formulation and clinical scale manufacturing services to the pharmaceutical and
biotechnology industries, with a focus on difficult-to-formulate active
pharmaceutical ingredients.
OctoPlus is listed on Euronext Amsterdam by NYSE Euronext under the symbol OCTO.
For more information about OctoPlus, please visit our website www.octoplus.nl.
This document may contain certain forward-looking statements relating to the
business, financial performance and results of OctoPlus and the industry in
which it operates. These statements are based on OctoPlus' current plans,
estimates and projections, as well as its expectations of external conditions
and events. In particular the words "expect", "anticipate", "predict",
"estimate", "project", "plan", "may", "should", "would", "will", "intend",
"believe" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking
statements. We caution investors that a number of important factors, and the
inherent risks and uncertainties that such statements involve, could cause
actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those expressed in any
forward-looking statements. In the event of any inconsistency between an English
version and a Dutch version of this document, the English version will prevail
over the Dutch version.
Click here for the press release including financial tables in PDF:
http://hugin.info/137076/R/1629487/521923.pdf
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Source: OctoPlus N.V. via Thomson Reuters ONE
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